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Rev3 Quassy Bike Course Tips

Monday, May 31st, 2010

There is only one week left until Rev3 Quassy!

I’ve been looking forward to this race since last year. The race was a blast, but the course totally destroyed me. It is by far a PW half and I definitely have something left to prove.

This year I’m coming back with a whole new perspective on my training, a sweet new tri bike and a year of built up adrenaline to prove to myself that I have it in my to rock the course. I’m definitely not hoping for a PR since it is the hardest half I’ve ever done, but I’m at least hoping for a much smoother race day execution.

It is one of my favorite rides and when I heard that the RD made some changes, I must admit I was a little worried. After pre-riding it last week, all my worries were washed away.  There are some slight tweaks to the course, but its personality sill remains the same. I’m still very much a happy triathlete.

For all my buddies out there that I’ll see in CT next week, here are some tips for destroying the bike course instead of letting it destroy you.

• The first two miles is a nice easy downhill to help get your legs underneath you, but after that it is pretty constant undulation. Don’t bother waiting for that long flat section to hammer it home. It doesn’t exist.
• 90% of the climbs aren’t all that much of an elevation gain. What makes it challenging is that there are so many of them and they are big enough where you can’t just charge the downhills to let your momentum carry you over so you can easily wear yourself out if you aren’t careful.
• While there plenty of fun descents, I can’t think of many (if any at all) that end  in a smooth flat section where you can keep that downhill momentum going and just cruise. Almost every descent is immediately followed by a climb of some degree.
• On the other end, just about every climb is a little windy. So don’t go charging up hill around a corner, assuming that the road peaks just past your line of sight. It doesn’t.
• The pavement is actually pretty smooth. This is New England, so there a few sketchy areas where you’ll have to navigate around some sizable potholes and cracks in the road. That is inevitable. There are also some pretty smooth and freshly paved areas, which make speedy descents A-MAZING.
• The bike course isn’t overly technical, but you are gently winding around the course the entire way. There are no straight shots where you can bomb down hills with full sight of the road ahead, but nothing is so sharp that you have to hang on to the brakes for dear life, except for two parts.
• My favorite descent is just after you take a right onto Thomaston Road (RT 109) at around mile 17. At first it isn’t a steep drop and slowly sneaks up on you, so it is good to know about ahead of time. The grade slowly increases and before you know it you’ll be winding through gentle turns at close to 40 mph. I love it. Towards the bottom, you pass a big dam on your left and take a 90 degree sweeping right turn. It isn’t so sharp that you have to touch the brakes, so keep that downhill momentum going and USE IT.
• At about mile 31 (Camp Dutton Road) and 45 (Hard Hill Road) there are two sharp, downhill left turns that are definitely worth being aware of. Rev3 will have flaggers out making sure that everyone is playing it a little cautious and blocking traffic from the intersections
• When you take the Left onto Rt 254 at about mile 23, prepare for a long hard climb until about mile 30. Say your prayers at the church at the bottom and make sure you are ready for some suffering. There are a few false flats and short downhills, but you keep going up-up-up until you turn off of 254 at its very end. At around mile 31, you’ll be at the highest point in the course, but don’t let that get into your head. Just because you are ultimately headed downhill, there is plenty of climbing left. Even the last 5 miles have some serious climbs left to tackle.
• Because there is so much undulating terrain, make sure you focus on efficient shifting. You should be shifting a lot to avoid burning your quads out while climbing or missing out on some extra speed coming down the other end of any one of the million climbs.
• Personally, I know that I’m pretty bad about being diligent about my hydration on hilly courses. I’m probably better off drinking uphill (instead of coasting a little on the downhills or patiently waiting for that mysterious flat section). Just something that I have to be aware of.
• If you did the race last year, the main difference that you’ll notice is that you won’t come back into T2 from the same way you did. Last year you had a quick downhill. This year? Not so much.  Enjoy that gentle climb all the way in to the finish.
• Oh yeah, the run course is no piece of cake either, but that is a different story entirely.

Here is the Rev3 Quassy bike course map with elevation profile if you want to check it out.

Good luck to everyone racing next weekend! Looking forward to meeting all my bloggy/Twitter friends that will be out there.

Category : Triathlon

Tags: rev3, rev3 ct, rev3 quassy, rev3 quassy bike course

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